


On Currents

by oiyukis



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Implied Propositioning, Implied Sexual Content, JuHaku Week, M/M, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-12 20:19:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3353981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oiyukis/pseuds/oiyukis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s a little too awkward, and too embarrassing, to get up and leave now, when half the place thinks he’s been stood-up. </p><p>Or: Hakuryuu is lonely, Judar wants to help, and Hakuryuu doesn't want to admit how okay with that he is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On Currents

Hakuryuu starts to feel guilty the third time he sends the waitress away without ordering anything. He hasn’t even opened the menu, instead ruminating on the bedfellows of irritation and depression churning in his stomach. He wishes he would have had the insight to stay home. He’d forgotten what day it was, and—

Well, he’s lonely.

Hakuryuu folds his arms on the table, resting his forehead against them. He’d only ducked into the diner to get out of the cold for a moment, but he’d ended up taking a booth in the back of the room. As time had passed, he’d started noticing the stares. That’s when everything had clicked: he was, is, sitting alone at a booth on Valentine’s Day, seemingly abandoned for the night.

It’s a little too awkward, and too embarrassing, to get up and leave now, when half the place thinks he’s been stood-up. The crowds will taper out eventually, and his phone has enough charge to muck around on some game for a few hours. He’d thought about asking one of his friends to show up to make things less . . . well, _sad_ , but they’re all on dates of their own, or at Sphintus’s ‘Lonely Hearts Club’ party.  

He’d invited Hakuryuu, but they’re only friends through Aladdin, who Hakuryuu really only knows because of Alibaba, so the invitation had seemed a little obligatory.

Thus, here he sits, feeling a little more pathetic by the minute, and feeling worse about feeling pathetic because of it.

“Hakuryuu?!”

Hakuryuu doesn’t even have to look up to know who’s calling his name, in _that_ tone. It’s an exclamation, a question, and a delighted discovery wrapped into one.

Of all the—

Hakuryuu looks up from his arms, frowning. As expected, Judar stands before his booth, apparently in the process of taking a seat across from an older, average-looking man in a worn suit. A date? Not surprising. Judar is . . . striking, to say the least.

“What are you doing here?” He abandons the adjacent table to perch his hip on the edge of Hakuryuu’s, grinning down at him. “Oh! Here with a _girl_?”

Hakuryuu resists the urge to snap. “No.”

“Good,” Judar says bluntly. “You— _shit_.”

“You’re in public,” Hakuryuu scolds automatically, a habit long-formed.

“Where’s all your hair?”

Apparently it _has_ been a while since he’s last seen Judar. His reaction lines up fairly well with the rest of Hakuryuu’s family, though. They hadn’t been crazy about the undercut. His bangs are still long enough to pin back, and it’s nowhere near as drastic as they make it out to be.

“I got it cut, obviously.”

“You look so good!”

Oh. Well—. He hadn’t expected _that_. Given that it’s Judar, though, maybe he should have.

“Hakuryuu!” Judar drags out his name, sliding down to the seat across from him. Hakuryuu glances at Judar’s companion, who doesn’t look particularly perturbed, and then Judar reaches across the table to touch his cheek.

The touch sends a shock through him, like Judar’s hand is made of lightning. He’s unused to people touching his face—when he was little, before the fire, aunts and uncles would pinch his cheeks and kiss his forehead for luck on his birthday, but it’s been a long time since anyone has entertained the idea of doing that.

Except Judar, who has never seemed to care, or find his scar at all unsettling. Judar has been the only person to treat him with the same degree of care after the fire. At nine, it hadn’t been something Hakuryuu thought much of, but he’d been old enough to notice, and he’s old enough now to look back on it with appreciation.

“You look good,” Judar repeats, smiling the way he does when he’s keeping secrets. “ _Very_ good.” In a blink, he’s smiling normally again. “You turned into a punk when I wasn’t looking!”

“I’m not a punk.”

“Mm, maybe that’s true. You’ve still got your frumpy sweaters.” Judar pulls on the hem of his sleeve for emphasis.

Hakuryuu pulls his hands away, tucking them under the booth. “They’re not _frumpy_. They’re comfortable.”

Judar nods, like he’s seen the error of his ways.  “Sorry, Hakuryuu. You know I don’t mean it.”

“You’re rude to everyone, Judar.” Hakuryuu wants to roll his eyes, but breaking eye-contact with Judar has never been easy to do. “You always mean it.”

“I’m not rude to _you_.”

“One person is not an accomplishment.”

“If it’s you, one person is fine.”

“You’re being rude right now,” Hakuryuu says under his breath. “Stop ignoring your date.”

“And, what, ignore you instead?” Judar’s tone suggests it’s practically unthinkable. “But you’re lonely, sitting here by yourself—”

“I am _not_!” Hakuryuu takes a breath. “I’m not.”

Judar stares at him for a few moments, then seems to decide against commenting. Knowing he thinks he has something to say about it is still enough to dampen Hakuryuu’s mood. Judar knows him too well, knows his tells too well, to have missed the tone in his voice.

Mortification threatens to creep into Hakuryuu’s psyche. It’s bad enough that he’s so clearly alone in a room full of couples on _Valentine’s Day_ , but for Judar to pick up on the loneliness is . . .

Judar has probably never had this problem in his life, and Hakuryuu always has. He’s had his fair share of crushes, many of which he’s told Judar about, but he’s never dated anyone. He’s never had a partner to come to diners with on Valentine’s Day. It’s only natural to feel a little lonely, right? He’s not totally pathetic, right?

“Do you want to come home with me, Hakuryuu?”

“ . . . _What_?!”

“Yeah.” Judar nods, like he’s already decided. “After dessert.”

“You just got here. You haven’t even had dinner yet.”

“Cook for me, then,” Judar suggests easily. He shifts around in the booth to dig a few bills out of his pockets, laying them on the table. “Let’s go.”

“Judar, you can’t just . . . ditch your date.”

“He’ll survive,” Judar waves his hand, as if the man can’t undoubtedly hear his dismissal. “You’re more important.”

Hakuryuu’s heart stutters at how casual Judar sounds, like it’s something Hakuryuu should already know, despite the guilt that comes from how the other man must feel.

“Hakuryuu, let’s _go_.”

This is wrong, on more than one level. It’s unfair to Judar’s date, and it’s unfair to Hakuryuu. It’s not like Judar is his boyfriend. They’re not dating, no matter how often and how deeply Judar insists he loves Hakuryuu.

But . . . Hakuryuu is lonely, and it’s an old habit of his to turn to Judar when he’s feeling that way.

“Alright.”

“Yes!” Judar leans closer, lowering his voice so he can whisper, “and after dinner I can have _you_ for desert?”

The line is terrible, and one Judar has used more than once, and it’s been months since the two of them have done anything of the sort.

(For this, the fact that they’re not dating doesn’t come into play. For this, Judar’s probably-false declarations of love and devotion are enough).

Hakuryuu flushes anyway, and finally averts his eyes. “We’ll see.”

 

 

 

(As it turns out, the man is not Judar’s date, but one of his coworkers from his mysterious job who even gives them a ride back to Judar’s apartment.)

(As it also turns out, Hakuryuu doesn’t get the chance to cook Judar a proper meal. As always, Judar jumps straight to dessert.)

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> regarding Judar and Hakuryuu's relationship: it's something along the lines of Judar asks Hakuryuu out a lot, and Hakuryuu says no a lot, but they still _have_ a relationship, and they especially still go to each other for comfort, company, and sex.
> 
> tumblr [link](http://oiyukis.tumblr.com/post/111006948073/on-currents)
> 
> also, there's a reason for the title, but it's not overwhelmingly important, so if it doesn't make sense that's okay too.


End file.
